Fifth Annual Space Day Celebration Spans the Globe – The Odyssey Continues in Every U.S. State, 21 Countries Participate
Space Day, the fifth annual tribute to
space exploration and opportunity, has grown into a worldwide celebration,
reaching six of the seven continents.
Millions of students, teachers and
space enthusiasts in 21 countries, every state in the U.S. and seven Canadian
provinces are part of Space Day 2001.
Beyond the Earth, the current crew of
the International Space Station will celebrate Space Day by sending a special
greeting to the national celebration at the Smithsonian’s National Air and
Space Museum in Washington, DC.
“Space Day is an innovative education initiative that encourages students
to study math, science and technology by introducing them to the wonders of
space,” said Senator John Glenn, the co-chair of Space Day.
“What we are
trying to do is instill curiosity in young people and inspire them to expand
our scientific frontiers.
These students represent our future space pioneers
that will one day realize possibilities that we can now only imagine.”
Space Day is an international grassroots initiative made possible through
the support of more than 70 Space Day Partners that organize events throughout
North America.
For example, in Senator Glenn’s home state of Ohio, the
Boonshoft Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Center of Science and
Industry and Inventure Place — the National Inventors Hall of Fame — will
all hold Space Day celebrations and exhibits with hundreds of schools
participating.
See enclosed state-by-state listing of activities across the
U.S. and Canada or visit http://www.spaceday.com/press/events.html .)
“We are very proud of the work our Partners do to bring Space Day into the
classrooms and communities in the United States, Canada and increasingly
around the world,” said Vance Coffman, chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin,
co-chair of Space Day.
As part of the local celebrations, 18 governors and 21
mayors in U.S. and Canada have officially proclaimed May 3 as Space Day 2001.
The national Space Day event in Washington, D.C. kicks off the global
celebration from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum with a
spectacular Opening Ceremony featuring Senator Glenn, a greeting message from
Sir Arthur C. Clarke, author of the visionary film, 2001: A Space Odyssey and
the Space Day salute from the current crew of the International Space Station.
The results of the first annual Space Day Student Survey, conducted in
cooperation with USA TODAY Education, will also be released.
Senator Glenn will announce the 12 teams selected for their “Stellar”
solutions to the Design Challenges of living and working in space — the
educational centerpiece of Space Day.
From the United States and Venezuela to
Kuwait and Russia, teams of student scientists collaborated to solve the real-
life challenges of life and work in space.
Nine of the 12 “Stellar” teams are
traveling to Washington, DC from around the country to be recognized on Space
Day.
The celebration continues with the interactive Cyber Space Day webcast
broadcast live from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum from Noon-
2 EDT.
Webcast viewers the world over can log on to http://www.spaceday.com ,
submit questions about living and working in space and hear the answers in
real time from Senator Glenn; Dr. Roger Crouch, chief scientist of the
International Space Station (ISS); NASA Astronauts Tom Jones and Wendy
Lawrence; Dr. Kathyrn Clark, a senior scientist at NASA; and many more.
The
webcast is also available via satellite and will be archived at
http://www.spaceday.com after May 3rd.
Space Day is the annual celebration of the achievements, benefits and
opportunities of space exploration.
It is dedicated to the advancement of
science, math and technology education, and aims to inspire young people to
realize the vision of space pioneers.
Space Day is the proud recipient of the 2001 Space Foundation Annual
Education Achievement Award for promoting excellence in K-12 education.
